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Any former smokers have any usefull advice?

I've been smoking for about ten years and while I've tried to quite before, sometimes with moderate success( a little over a year ), I can't seem to kick the habit for good. Anyone out there have some usefull advice?

Quitting cold turkey is HARD. I agree with mzer. You have to be committed to quitting.

I tried the patch years ago and didn't find it to be too effective. If you're going to do this, I recommend putting it on in the morning or it can affect your nighttime sleep. The gum was ok, but not fail-proof.

I found that identifying your habits, e.g. when you regularly smoke like with coffee, driving to/from work, and cutting it out of those specific times during the day, you can drastically reduce how much you smoke and get to a point when you can just quit completely. Years ago when I quit, I cut it out of my morning coffee routine, during my work breaks for a few months, and then quit completely.

I also think it's pretty much necessary to not be around smokers. It's too easy to bum a cigarette off someone or be tempted.

Also, there are prescription medications and different treatments available now, so maybe those are good alternatives as well.

I read somewhere that the physical addiction to nicotine lasts up to 6 months, and the psychological craving never really completely goes away. If you're making it to a year without a cig, sounds like you need to grit your teeth and push past those times. I haven't had a cig for about 10 years (maybe longer), and I still get that urge every now and then.

i finally kicked tobacco 4 years ago after smoking for over 13 years...i recommend that you quit drinking temporarily and also coffee too. Those were my 2 triggers when i smoked, i couldnt have one without the other. I used the patch program for 2 or 3 months and i found it to really help. Also, when i had strong cravings to smoke, i simply smoked something else instead
sunflower seeds and sugar free gum helped with the oral cravings too...good luck k fed.

K-Fed - you can do it, but it is honest to god brutal. I am in my 30's and started smoking as a teenager, and smoked for just shy of 10 total years of a pack a day habit. Forgive the soapbox rant below, but this cause is near and dear for obvious reasons, as you will read.

Quitting was the second hardest thing I have ever had to do. The first hardest thing was watching my mom slowly die from lung cancer (lifetime smoker). It took her a few months after being diagnosed to quit after a lifetime of smoking. I was her daily caregiver since my dad (also a smoker, and also deceased due in part to smoking-related issues) wasn't in the best of health. No cancer is good cancer, but lung cancer is brutal. Took her two years to die, and she was slowly dying the whole two years.

Lung cancer causes more deaths than the next three most common cancers combined (colon, breast and prostate). An estimated 160,340 Americans were expected to die from lung cancer in 2012, accounting for approximately 28 percent of all cancer deaths.

The lung cancer five-year survival rate (16.3%) is lower than many other leading cancer sites, such as the colon (65.2%), breast (90.0%) and prostate (99.9%).

Quitting smoking is brutal. For me and my wife, the biggest challenges were the anxiety associated with nicotine withdrawal and emotional removal of a crutch. I found that the more I learned about how much it sucks for other people, the less I felt like a &^$$% when it was hard. Also, talk to your doctor. There are plenty of good medications out there (beyond just patches and gum) that can help you with the quitting PROCESS. I highlight process, because it takes a long time to effectively quit. I don't think I was the same for a year.

Accept that you can try to "quit" and every smoker has likely "quit" many times. But until you are ready to commit to QUITTING, it will be hard. Quitting means permanently. As in, completely and forever. As in, not a single drag from a single cigarette after a night drinking, ever. As in throwing out not only your open pack, but your lighter, your ash trays, your carton in the car, and your smoking gear. This mindset will help you begin to grieve for your loss - which it most certainly will be - before you commit.

Just know that many thousands of people have successfully quit - and at the end of the day, as mzer says, you just have to make your mind up and do it, and then follow through with balls of steel. Quitting sucks, but the benefits from quitting are nearly immediate. From American Lung Association:

20 Minutes After Quitting:

Your heart rate drops to a normal level.

12 Hours After Quitting:

The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.

2 Weeks to 3 Months After Quitting:

Your risk of having a heart attack begins to drop.

Your lung function begins to improve.

1 to 9 Months After Quitting:

Your coughing and shortness of breath decrease.

1 Year After Quitting:

Your added risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker's.

5 to 15 Years After Quitting:

Your risk of having a stroke is reduced to that of a nonsmoker's.

Your risk of getting cancer of the mouth, throat, or esophagus is half that of a smoker's.

10 Years After Quitting:

Your risk of dying from lung cancer is about half that of a smoker's.

Your risk of getting bladder cancer is half that of a smoker's.

Your risk of getting cervical cancer or cancer of the larynx, kidney or pancreas decreases.

15 Years After Quitting:

Your risk of coronary heart disease is the same as that of a nonsmoker.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004.